Dawn of a New Era
by ThisMyGuiltyPleasure
Summary: Commander Jane Shepard sacrificed her physical form to gain control of the Reapers, ending a cycle of harvesting that had continued for millenia. In this new era of peace, several vignettes detail the new lives of some of the allies and friends Shepard left behind. Ending: Control Romance: Kaidan This will lead in to a full story that I plan on writing afterwards.
1. A Future for the Krogan - Wrex

A Systems Alliance shuttle touched down on the craggy surface of Tuchanka, dust billowing in its wake. Urdnot Wrex stood just outside the landing zone, flanked by two guards, their shotguns holstered. Wrex's brow was furrowed in contemplation; he was sure the council was sending representatives to formally deny his requests for a hearing regarding krogan expansion.

The shuttle door opened, and a man in the standard Alliance uniform stepped out, followed by two soldiers, weapon holstered. The man looked impressive, for a human; he had a grizzled grey beard and features weathered by the tides of war. He bore a long scar across his face, and his steely grey eyes looked unfalteringly into Wrex's.

"I don't believe I've had the opportunity to meet you in person," the human said, extending a hand to Wrex. "Admiral Steven Hackett, Alliance Navy."

"Urdnot Wrex, leader of clan Urdnot." He grasped Hacket's hand gently to avoid snapping his brittle human bones. "I'm surprised the council would send an _Admiral_ to tell me what I already know."

Hacket raised an eyebrow as he neatly folded his hands behind his back. "I'm not sure I follow."

"I've been butting heads with the Council over krogan expansion ever since the genophage was cured. They haven't been very agreeable."

"Damn salarians and turians still trying to keep us down," one of Wrex's guards grumbled. Wrex silenced him with a venomous glare.

"I _am_ here on Council business, but it's not what you think," Hackett said. "I'm here to formally extend an offer for the krogan to join the Citadel Council. Should you accept, you must nominate a member of your species, to be approved by the current Councilors."

Wrex thought he had seen it all. The advent of the Reapers, the eradication of the genophage, but he had been totally unprepared for this.

Hackett chuckled. "I don't think I've ever seen a krogan at a loss for words."

"You… the Council wants the _krogan_ to join?"

"Yes. Do you accept this offer?"

"Of course we do."

"Very well. You're to notify the Council of your choice, and the vetting process will begin. You will then be sent further instructions."

Wrex blinked. "They sent you all the way out here to relay a message?"

"It's an important message," Hackett said. "And the Council 'thought it appropriate to send someone of high distinction.'"

Wrex chuckled. "Of course they did. Don't suppose you and your friends want to come place a few bets on some varren wrestling?" He jerked his thumb over his shoulder.

"Maybe next time," Hackett said as he stepped back onto the shuttle. "More messages to deliver."

"Ah, the glory of post-war life," Wrex chuckled in his deep baritone. "Looks like our time in the spotlight is over."

"Peace has its advantages, Wrex," Hackett said. "Especially now that you and Shepard have gotten rid of the genophage."

Wrex wasn't an emotional creature, but he felt a pang of loss at the name of his old friend. "I guess it does. I'll have nominated a krogan within the week to join the Citadel Council."

Hackett nodded in acknowledgment. "I'll let them know. Until next time." Wrex nodded. The shuttle took off, kicking up a cloud of dust.


	2. A Future for the Krogan - Grunt

Grunt walked with long, purposeful strides towards the Urdnot clan chambers. Since his first journey to Tuchanka for his Rite of Passage, there had been much rebuilding. What used to be a pile of rock and burning rubble was now a halfway-respectable building, complete with doors and walls.

He brusquely shoved a pair of fighting people out of the way, heading toward the door on the far side of the tunnel. He was met by two guards.

"Name?"

"Urdnot Grunt," he snarled. "Get out of my way."

"O… of course," the krogan stammered. His partner rolled his eyes.

"Sorry about this idiot pyjak, he's new. You can go ahead in, the Chief is waiting for you." He opened the door for Grunt, who nodded in acknowledgement and strode in.

In front of him, Urdnot Wrex was sitting in a blocky and uncomfortable-looking throne hewn of stone. He was conversing in hushed tones with a female, and they both turned to Grunt as he walked in.

"Wrex. Bakara." Grunt nodded sharply.

"Urdnot Grunt. It is good to see you," Bakara said, nodding to him before turning back to Wrex. "I'm sure you two have much to discuss. I'll take my leave for now." She turned and passed Grunt on her way out, staring deep into his eyes.

"Come here, you little pyjak," Wrex said, grinning, as he stood from his throne. He clasped Grunt's hand firmly and clapped him on the shoulders.

"How've you been?"

"Bored," Grunt said. "Not much for Aralakh Company to do these days without Reapers to fight. You wanted to talk about something?"

Wrex turned and faced his throne, staring at the monument behind it. A Salarian with a missing horn was carved into the stone wall.

"There was a lot of resistance when I commissioned this particular carving," Wrex said. "For obvious reasons. But if we're to move past old conflicts and build toward a new, brighter future, we need to begin by remembering those who made it possible, regardless of species."

Grunt stood next to Wrex and looked up at the monument with him. "Is there a point to all this?"

Wrex turned to Grunt. "The Council has extended an offer to us. To join the Council."

Grunt stared at him. "What?"

"I can hardly believe it myself. Seems just yesterday they were content to let us die instead of curing the genophage so we could remind them how to fight."

"But what does this all have to do with me?"

Wrex placed a hand on Grunts shoulder. "Bakara and I have come to a decision. I am going to join the Council."

Grunts eyes widened as everything clicked. "Then you…"

"I want _you_ to be the new leader of Clan Urdnot."

"Uhh…"

"Listen to me, Grunt. You're the perfect krogan. Literally. You are what I want the future of our species to be."

"I can't… I'm a soldier, Wrex, not a politician!"

"You're a _leader,_ Grunt, and a damn good one at that. You're the leader of Aralakh Company, for crying out loud. Not just _anybody_ can have such a position. Look around you, Grunt. The galaxy is changing. We're not in need of soldiers right now. We need leaders. Leaders like you, to usher in the future. A future for the krogan."

Grunt scratched his head. "Well, when you put it like that…"

"I trust you, Grunt. And Bakara will still be here to support you. I wouldn't do this if I wasn't absolutely certain that you were the best choice."

"Sounds like your mind's made up." Grunt chuckled. "And we all know how stubborn you are, old man."

Wrex clapped Grunt's shoulder mightily. "That's more like it. The ceremony will be held tomorrow. Wear your big boy armor."

"It's just as well. You're getting a bit soft around the edges anyway. Better you get some cushy room on the Citadel, wouldn't want you to break a nail."

Wrex put an arm around Grunt's shoulder. "I'm proud of you, Urdnot Grunt."

"Yeah yeah yeah."


	3. Living in the Present - Kaidan

The sun was rising over Vancouver, and Kaidan Alenko sat quietly on his porch overlooking the Pacific. He had built his small cabin home with nothing but his own two hands and his implants, and there wasn't another person living within a mile of him. His own quiet paradise.

A lone Reaper Destroyer was visible in the distance, clearing debris from the Invasion of 2186. Within the two years after Shepard had sacrificed herself to stop the Reapers, they had repaired the Mass Relays and were helping to rebuild cities and planets across the galaxy.

Kaidan felt his heart sink as he thought of the Commander. N7, the first human Spectre, the savior of all organic and synthetic life in the galaxy. But to Kaidan, she had been even more than that. If he was being honest with himself, she still was.

He took a swig of coffee from the mug in his hand and scratched at his thick beard. Next to him, his Newfoundland stirred. She was a large dog, nearly 160 pounds of muscle and black fur. She yawned and looked up at him, and he reached over to scratch her behind the ears. He looked down at his watch; it was nearly six.

"All right Ash," he said as he stood. "Ready to get going?" He left his half-empty coffee mug on his chair and walked down the wooden steps to the paved dirt walkway, Ash lumbering behind him. She jumped into the bed of his pickup (Kaidan had never really liked the smooth ride that modern vehicles provided), and they began the drive into town.

They arrived on a street filled with construction vehicles. Several of the men and women gathered waved to him as he parked his truck.

"Sir," one of the younger men said, snapping to a salute. He was the only one dressed in Alliance fatigues.

"Come on, Donnie," Kaidan sighed. "I've told you a thousand times, you don't have to call me that anymore. I'm a civilian now."

"You'll always be Major Alenko to me, sir." Kaidan chuckled and rolled his eyes.

"Hey there, Alex," Kaidan said to a woman walking over to him.

"Hey Kaidan. How you doing?"

"I'm all right. Sorry I couldn't make it out last week. I had an unexpected visitor."

"Well, you can make up for it today. You ready?"

"Always." He followed her to a scaffold on the face of a badly damaged building. This particular part of town hadn't been hit as badly as most of the area in the initial attack two years ago, but there was still a lot of work to be done. And with Alliance forces tied up rebuilding major economic and diplomatic centers, it had fallen largely to the locals to repair their own homes, all across the galaxy. Lieutenant Donnie Richards had been sent to their town to help oversee the repairs and report any major issues to Alliance Command.

"This'll go much faster now that you're here," Alex said. A large pile of cinderblocks sat at the foot of the scaffolding, next to a large bin attached to a pulley system.

"Hey Kaidan!" a man called down from the top of the scaffolding. "Good to see you got your lazy ass out here today."

"Yeah yeah. At least I have the strength to lift a few bricks with a rope, Ahmed."

Ahmed laughed. "Oh, I can do more than that. But why waste the energy when we've got our very own biotic?"

Kaidan chuckled. A field of dark energy formed around the cinderblocks, illuminating them with a bright blue aura. As Kaidan lifted block after block to the scaffolding above, he let his mind wander back to the visitor he'd had the previous week.

"Look, Garrus. It was really nice to see you, but I told you. I'm not a Spectre anymore, I'm done with that part of my life. I can't just running around and blowing stuff up with you like the old days."

"Kaidan, you're not listening to reason. You heard what happened to Chakwas, didn't you?"

Kaidan sighed. "Of course I heard. But the answer is still no. I have a life here now. The people in this town need me, to help them rebuild and to deal with the Alliance. I know how to get them to get things done. This is where I'm needed now."

"Well, I can see you've made up your mind." Garrus stood. "It was nice to see you again, old friend."

"Same to you." Garrus walked out the door toward the awaiting shuttle, then stopped and turned around.

"If you ever need anything, Alenko. You know how to get in touch."

"Got it, Garrus. Be safe out there."

"Same to you."

"Kaidan!"

Kaidan looked up. The scaffold was creaking dangerously.

"Get some of those cinderblocks off of there now! What happened to you?"

"Sorry," he said, quickly lifting the blocks from the scaffold. The ominous creaking ceased.

"You okay down there?"

"Yeah, just… doing some thinking."


	4. A New Galactic Order

Councilors Tevos, Esheel and Quentius were convened in the Citadel Tower. With the help of the Reapers, the Citadel had been moved back to its original location in the Widow system. The Citadel had been the site of the majority of the initial postwar rebuilding efforts, and was nearly fully restored to its former glory. Though the number of civilians living in the enormous structure had not yet come close to the population before the war, C-Sec and the embassies were fully populated, and more civilians arrived each day.

As Esheel and Quentius considered Tevos' latest proposal, the asari cursed her situation silently. The former turian and salarian Councilors, Sparatus and Valern, had almost always looked to her before deciding anything on their own. Unfortunately, they had both been aboard the Citadel when the Reapers had conquered it a year previously; Tevos had been on Illium, providing much-needed direction to the asari fleets as they staved off the invasion of their second-most important planet. It had been her strategic thinking that had led the asari to attack the Reapers' troop transports rather than their capital ships, ultimately saving Illium from the same fate as Thessia.

"I have to say, Councilor Tevos, I find your proposal troubling," Esheel said. Tevos sighed. Of course she did. "I understood your reasoning behind granting the quarians an embassy on the Citadel. And I even supported giving the geth their own embassy, something that I couldn't have imagined just a year ago."

_A year ago you weren't even a Councilor._

"I have to say, I think I agree with Esheel," Quentius said. "I don't know that inviting the quarians to the Council is the best course of action right now."

"You supported bringing the krogan in. Even you, Esheel."

"That was different!" Esheel said. "I was hoping to placate them, to get them to stop asking for new worlds to colonize. I hadn't realized that both of _you_ would be giving them your support."

"I would advise you to watch your tone, Esheel. And Quentius, I have to say I thought you'd agree with me on this. The krogan strengthened your ground forces on Palaven, but who was it who augmented your fleets? Who sacrificed themselves to repair your communications towers when they went offline?" Quentius was silent for a moment.

"I suppose… I see your point."

"And besides, your own Primarch suggested it even before I did. You didn't think I hadn't heard, did you?"

"Fine, you've made your point. We can invite the quarians to join the Council."

"I'm glad you agree," Tevos said. "In that case, I also suggest nominating a quarian to the Spectre ranks."

"Of course you do," Esheel said. "Since we're already handing Spectre ranks out like candy."

"Including the quarian, that's only three."

"It would have been four if your asari hadn't turned the position down."

"Spectres aside," Quentius said, "I still have reservations about your choice for the new human Councilor."

"Yes. If the old Councilor was in bed with Cerberus, how can you expect to trust _her?_"

"I think you're forgetting how vital she was to the war effort," Tevos said. "Cerberus could have been a much bigger threat if not for her. And intel says that she's been critical in the restoration efforts on her home planet."

Esheel scoffed. "Intel from who?"

"Admiral Hackett." Esheel went silent.

"Well, I suppose I can't think of any better candidates," Quentius said. "At least, ones who haven't already turned down the position."

"Exactly."

"Well, if that's all," Esheel said bitterly. "Can we adjourn this meeting?"

"Of course," Tevos said. Esheel turned and left.

"She'll come around," Quentius said. "She knows we have to keep a united front to keep the peace. She's just stubborn."

"I know, Councilor. And thank you for your support." Quentius nodded and followed after Esheel.

_Maybe this new Council will be more… _agreeable_ than I'd thought._


End file.
